I hope that within 10 days there will be a normalization of the garbage crisis in the "Lyulin" and "Krasno Selo" areas. This was stated in the program "Offensive with Lyubo Ognyanov" on NOVA News by the Chairman of the Sofia Municipal Council Tsvetomir Petrov.
According to him, the Mayor of Sofia Vasil Terziev has committed to preparing a plan for getting out of the difficult situation with garbage collection by the end of next week. Hundreds of volunteers have joined in the cleanup, machines from Botevgrad are already operating on the ground, and more are yet to arrive, he emphasized.
The chairman of the SOS explained that the municipal company "Sofekostroy" has not refused to take on more areas, but it does not have the technical capacity, as well as the people, to carry out waste collection outside the "Krasna Polyana" area, where it already operates. For this purpose, the Municipal Council voted 9 million leva to increase the resources and capabilities of the company, which will have to cover other areas in the future. "These funds will initially give them the opportunity to increase capacity. Whether they will solve it completely - we will have to see".
According to Petrov, the problems with concluding a new contract for waste collection are due to a delay of nearly three months at the Public Procurement Agency. As a reason, he also pointed out the high prices offered by private companies for the service.
"If the prices were normal and close to the forecast - we would have concluded contracts now. The problem is not so much the time in which the public procurement was launched, but the prices", he is categorical. And he emphasized that the BSP's proposal to terminate the procedure is "illegal", because only the mayor has the authority to terminate public procurement.
The chairman of the SOS explained that currently the municipal company "Sofekostroy" is cleaning the "most undesirable" area "Krasna Polyana". "No one has applied for it for years. Part of this area is also the "Fakulteta" neighborhood - which has very narrow streets and a lot of waste. Currently, it is cleaned there at a price of about 180 leva per ton. This is a price from last year.
He pointed out as a reason for the potential problems the fact that in some of the procedures there is only one participant with a high offer, which calls into question the competition and the economic justification of the prices. The private Turkish company, which submitted a bid for the 4th region, which includes "Nadezhda", "Ilinden" and "Serdika", has given a price of about 180 leva per ton. "She is the only remaining candidate for the cleanup there," he explained.
When asked if there is a real risk of a similar crisis repeating in other areas of Sofia, since the temporary extensions of the contracts of the garbage collection companies in them expire in December, Petrov called for waiting for "Vasil Terziev's plan for dealing with the crisis, which is expected in the next 10 days."
When asked how the issue of the huge debt of "Toplofikatsiya" will be resolved, he emphasized that: "Over the last 15-20 years, "Toplofikatsiya" has been dragged into a spiral of debts from which it will be difficult to get out. This is a problem that has not been resolved for years. It will be difficult to find an adequate solution unless an external company is found to take over management.
Regarding the planned repair of the heat transfer network in the "Druzhba 2" district, he explained that "this is a poorly communicated repair". "Is this repair necessary - rather yes. But whether it should be done during the heating season - rather no. This issue should have been discussed with us - the SOS, and also with the people of Sofia. You cannot say in September that there will be no heating from October to December".
Petrov explained that the heating will be turned on when there are three consecutive days with low temperatures, as has been the case so far.